Mississippi State University Scholars Junction Theses and Dissertations Theses and Dissertations 12-1-2019 Don't fear the nobodies: A critical youth study of the Columbiner Instagram Community Brianna L. Wright Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsjunction.msstate.edu/td Recommended Citation Wright, Brianna L., "Don't fear the nobodies: A critical youth study of the Columbiner Instagram Community" (2019). Theses and Dissertations. 1569. https://scholarsjunction.msstate.edu/td/1569 This Graduate Thesis - Open Access is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses and Dissertations at Scholars Junction. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Scholars Junction. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Template A v4.0 (beta): Created by L. Threet 01/2019 Don’t fear the nobodies: A critical youth study of the Columbiner Instagram community By TITLE PAGE Brianna L. Wright A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Mississippi State University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in Sociology in the College of Arts and Sciences Mississippi State, Mississippi December 2019 Copyright by COPYRIGHT PAGE Brianna L. Wright 2019 Don’t fear the nobodies: A critical youth study of the Columbiner Instagram community By APPROVAL PAGE Brianna L. Wright Approved: ____________________________________ Margaret Ann Hagerman (Major Professor/Graduate Coordinator) ____________________________________ Nicole E. Rader (Committee Member) ____________________________________ Rachel Allison (Committee Member) ____________________________________ Rick Travis Dean College of Arts & Sciences Name: Brianna L. Wright ABSTRACT Date of Degree: December 13, 2019 Institution: Mississippi State University Major Field: Sociology Major Professor: Margaret A. Hagerman Title of Study: Don’t fear the nobodies: A critical youth study of the Columbiner Instagram community Pages in Study 139 Candidate for Degree of Master of Arts This research sheds light on how one particular group of young people, Columbiners, use social media to build and maintain a sense of community. Through a content analysis of 200 Instagram posts containing a school shooting fandom hashtag, or #Columbiner, and drawing on both Critical Youth Studies and Sense of Community Theory, this research demonstrates how Columbiners use their hashtag to create a sense of community on Instagram, to explore what it means to be young and cool, and to make sense of the problems that shape their social world, including school shootings. Exploring how this particular group of young people engage with each other on social media provides researchers an opportunity to listen to young people as they develop their understandings of topics as seemingly mundane as homework to those as serious as school shootings. DEDICATION To my “boys”, my mom and dad, Eric, Devin, and Kaitlyn; to Nana, Gammy, and Pop; to my soul-mutt; I couldn’t have done this without your unwavering support. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS To my major professor, Dr. Hagerman, thank you for your unwavering support and commitment to my work. To my committee members, Dr. Rader and Dr. Allison, thank you for not giving up on this work. Dr. Newmahr, thank you for the original inspiration and subsequent inspiration over the course of this journey. To my core friend group, the greatest colleagues I could ask for, thank you for everything. To my boss and friend, Jamie Rottmann, thank you for making me finish. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS DEDICATION .................................................................................................................... ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................... iii LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................. vi LIST OF FIGURES .......................................................................................................... vii CHAPTER .......................................................................................................................... 1 I. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................1 II. REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE ......................................................................5 Critical youth studies .............................................................................................8 Sense of community theory: Boundaries and belonging .....................................12 Columbiners ........................................................................................................17 III. METHODS .........................................................................................................24 Feminist methodology: Reflexivity and standpoint ............................................24 Qualitative research methods ..............................................................................26 Methods of this project ........................................................................................29 Gatekeeping and the ethics of studying youth online ..........................................34 IV. RESULTS ...........................................................................................................38 Community building through #Columbiner ........................................................40 Membership ...................................................................................................40 Boundaries ...............................................................................................41 Safety .....................................................................................................42 Belonging/identity ...................................................................................44 Personal investments ...............................................................................45 Symbol system .........................................................................................47 Influence ........................................................................................................49 Fulfillment and integration of needs ..............................................................53 Shared emotional connections .......................................................................56 Shared memories .....................................................................................57 Group rituals ............................................................................................59 iv Traditions .................................................................................................65 Shared symbols – revisited ......................................................................67 Being young and figuring out cool ......................................................................72 Cool language ................................................................................................74 Cool music .....................................................................................................83 Making sense of confusion ..................................................................................89 The mundane, the everyday ...........................................................................90 Love and attraction ..................................................................................91 Family and friends ...................................................................................95 Homework and school .............................................................................97 The heavy, the everyday ..............................................................................101 Sexual violence ......................................................................................102 Depression and bullying ........................................................................106 Schools and shootings ...........................................................................111 V. CONCLUSION .................................................................................................117 REFERENCES ............................................................................................................... 125 v LIST OF TABLES Table 1 Columbiner Music Use ................................................................................................84 vi LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1 Eat Shit .........................................................................................................................46 Figure 2 Natural Selection and Wrath ........................................................................................47 Figure 3 Columfine ....................................................................................................................51 Figure 4 13 Victims ....................................................................................................................58 Figure 5 Image Search ................................................................................................................60 Figure 6 Invention Idea ..............................................................................................................62 Figure 7 Dylan’s Birthday Cake .................................................................................................66 Figure 8 Best Friend Goals .........................................................................................................68